Iran declares Tehran-depicting Battlefield 3 illegal

Iran's police have outlawed Battlefield 3 - the video game is now illegal.

"All computer stores are prohibited from selling this illegal game," the police told an Iranian IT magazine, reported by AFP (via IndustryGamers).

Battlefield 3 was banned because it depicted the US army fighting in Tehran, the capital city of Iran.

The Fars news agency claimed 5000 "Iranian youths" had prompted the ban by petitioning against the game online.

"We understand that the story of a video game is hypothetical," the group apparently wrote, "[but] we believe the game is purposely released at a time when the US is pushing the international community into fearing Iran."

Not that EA minds; Battlefield 3 wasn't ever made available to buy in Iran, which means all copies sold there were illegal to begin with.

"In that Battlefield 3 is not available for purchase in Iran, we can only hope the ban will help prevent pirated copies reaching consumers there," EA commented.